Okay, for anyone who has already flipped over their calendars will have noticed that this year Halloween actually falls on a Thursday. But in defense of the guy who first uttered that line, his mind was playing tricks on him. In fact in 1990, when Bushwick Bill rapped that line, Halloween also fell on a Thursday. Plus when he declared it was Halloween, later in the verse, it did not even turn out to be close to Halloween.
The line was the centerpiece of the seminal gangsta rap track My Mind’s Playing Tricks on Me by Geto Boys. At the time when west coast rappers were glorifying the gangsta lifestyle, these Houston boys were tapping into the paranoia real gang bangers had at the time having to constantly look over your shoulder for the cops and other gang members. To up the paranoia, the cover of the album We Can't Be Stopped, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, featured Bushwick Bill in the hospital after he shot himself in the eye.
The boys do not spend the entire album sitting in four cornered rooms starring at candles and go on the offensive, taking aim at Queen Latifah (I’m Not a Gentlemen, their answer back to her Ladies First), the Grammy’s (Trophies), and even their own record label who would not distribute their previous album (the title track). Though the Fresh Prince beat Bushwick Bill rapping about a horror film antagonist by three years, the Geto Boys’ Chuckie, based on the Child’s Play doll, is as scary as the actual movie. In another pop culture reference, Willie D recorded a song based on the Homey D. Clown catchphrase Homie Don’t Play That which was just as angry as The Living Color sketch.
Though this year Halloween does not fall on the weekend, every October is a good time to sit along in a four cornered room starring at candles while listening to the Geto Boys.
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